George Orwell’s 80s remix

Sound artist Margaret Noble recalls “being very disappointed in the end for Winston Smith,” when she read George Orwell’s classic work of political fiction Nineteen Eighty-Four in high school. While at the time she was simply absorbed in the narrative, years later the seminal work provided the foundation for Frakture — an adventurous audio work that explores the themes of the original novel.

The year 1984 has passed, but George Orwell’s vision of a society controlled through surveillance, censorship, infringement of individual liberties, and violence in the name of security still resonates today. Are we in need of protection from the ‘other’? Or, is the ‘other’ an ambiguous symbol used to control us?

Despite the thematic parallels, Noble, who started out as an underground club DJ in Chicago before moving onto sound art, doesn’t point to Orwell’s book as the sole influence behind the work.

“I’ve had many discussions with friends who have very strong feelings that we’re under controls and government measures and are heading into an apocalyptic state,” explains Noble, “even though these elements of our society may not always be visible.”

“I collect records and love vinyl, so I went through my sci-fi collection to see if I could find any stories that connected with these beliefs, and my radio recording of 1984 resonated strongly. Although extreme in content, it seemed like a good idea to pull things apart by researching contemporary media to see what comparisons could be made.”